Dried Red Chilli Chicken

This dried red chilli chicken is not fiery! Cooked with onions, soy sauce, and dry chillies low in spicy heat, this is a simple Indo-Chinese preparation.

I love cooking traditional Indian delicacies! We use a variety of spices and seasonings in most of our dishes. The main ingredients vary depending on which part of the country you are in. Indian cuisine has contributed many specialties that are popular globally! Indian cuisine has also inspired many crossover dishes across the globe, like the Chicken Tikka Masala which, it turns out was conceived in the UK.

Similarly, chefs across India have found inspiration from other global cuisines. They adapted some of these recipes rendering their own versions which became desi versions of global favourites. Indian dishes inspired by Chinese preparations have created a flourishing food scene in India. In fact, you wouldn’t find any of these Indo-Chinese delicacies in China. We have our versions of chilli chicken, noodles, Schezwan fried rice, soups, etc. which are popular at Indian restaurants and takeaways.

This dry red chilli chicken is one such attempt. Made with a handful of ingredients, this is a simple, delicious, juicy chicken preparation.

Dry Red Chilli Chicken

This Asian style chilli chicken is cooked with two main ingredients – soy sauce and dry red chillies. I have used Kashmiri dry red chillies as they have a nice flavour and a very low spicy heat. You could use any other dry chilli which is not too hot.

In this preparation, chicken is marinated in soy sauce and cooked with onions and dry chillies. If you have time you could marinate for 30 minutes or so. But that’s not critical for this dish.

The most important aspect of this chilli chicken is in how the onions are cooked. Thinly sliced onions are slow-cooked by frying in oil on a medium flame till they start to caramelise. A teaspoon of brown sugar is added to the mix to enhance the flavours.

Do you like this chicken recipe? Then you’ll be interested in the following easy recipes as well!